Spring stand

ABSTRACT

A spring stand to minimize impact shock to the back and lower body extremities of a person standing on a surface exposed to vibration and/or intermittent impact forces. The stand includes a spaced-apart upper platform and lower stand support platform with two vertical stabilizer members near each side edge and an array of spaced-apart springs distributed between the upper and lower platforms. The lower platform has three or more spaced-apart footers to rest on the deck of the boat as well as drain holes to drain water that might splash inside the stand between the platform members. The lower platform has vertically upright sides around the perimeter of the lower platform that are partially overlapped by vertical sides depending from the perimeter of the upper platform. The top surface of the upper platform has a non-slip cushioning surface made from a foam and/or rubberized material.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a spring stand to stand on to absorb impactsfrom waves when driving or standing in a boat and to ease foot, knee andback pain.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As alluded to above, standing behind the steering wheel of a boatsubjects the feet, knees and back to shock from the absorption of theimpact of the boat hull with the waves. An object of the presentinvention is to ease resultant pain to feet, knees and back by providinga shock absorber system on which the boat operator can stand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a spring stand to stand on to absorb impacts from waveswhen driving or standing in a boat and to ease foot, knee and back painresulting from such repetitive impacts. The spring stand may also beused in any other application to minimize impact shock to the back andlower body extremities of a person standing on a surface exposed tovibration and/or intermittent impact forces.

It is configured with a spaced-apart upper platform and lower standsupport platform with two vertical stabilizer members near each sideedge to minimize any forward, sideway and backward motion of the stand.A standard size platform may be about 24 inches×18 inches, but othersizes plus or minus 6 inches in either direction is anticipated. Ofcourse, other foot print shapes anticipated such as square, round,rectangular, curved shapes, etc. There is an array of spaced-apartsprings distributed between the upper and lower platforms serve as anexample of a method of providing a shock absorber characteristic to thedevice. The lower platform has four or more spaced-apart footers to reston the deck of the boat as well as drain holes to drain water that mightsplash inside the stand between the platform members. The lower platformwill have vertically upright sides around the perimeter of the lowerplatform that are partially overlapped by vertical sides depending fromthe perimeter of the upper platform. The top surface of the upperplatform has a non-slip surface applied to its surface. A preferablenon-slip material is an overlying cushioned surface made from a foambase material or rubber base material or similar types of material thatprovides cushioning and at the same time helps prevent the personstanding on the stand from slipping off the stand surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention in use on a boatdeck;

FIG. 2 is a perspective representational view of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of the invention depicted in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of one example of components that can beassembled to produce the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-4 conceptually disclose anexample of one embodiment of the present invention, which is a springstand for minimizing impact shock to the back and lower body extremitiesof a person standing on a surface exposed to vibration and/orintermittent impact forces, and is depicted generally as 10.

The spring stand 10 comprises an upper platform 12 and a spaced-apartlower stand support platform 14, which is in an underlying relationshipto the upper platform 12. The spring stand 10 also includes stabilizermeans 16 for minimizing any forward, sideway and backward motion of thespring stand 10. The stabilizer means 16 is in mechanical communicationwith the upper platform 12 and the lower stand support platform 14. Oneexample of such stabilizer means 16 for minimizing any forward, sidewayand backward motion of the spring stand 10 comprises two verticalstabilizer members 16 a, 16 b as discussed below, each in mechanicalcommunication with the upper platform 12 and the lower stand supportplatform 14 and each located near respective side edges of the upper andstand support platforms 12,14.

In the aforementioned example of such means 16, a larger hollow memberor pipe/tube 16 a depending from the upper platform 12 and a smallermember or pipe/tube 16 b upwardly extending from tile bottom standsupport platform 16 is provided, where the smaller member 16 b isconfigured to telescope within the hollow portion of the larger memberor pipe/tube 16 a. For example, a ¾ inch tube or pipe may be used forthe lower half of the stabilizer 16 and a 1 inch pipe/tube may be usedfor the upper half of the stabilizer. As the upper platform compressestoward the lower stand platform and vice-versa, the smaller half 16 b ofthe stabilizer telescopes within the upper half 16 a. The rigidity ofthe stabilizers 16 because of materials typical of such components(metal or polymeric composite materials or similar materials) minimizesany forward, sideway and backward motion of the spring stand 10. Theheight of each stabilizer 16 is preferably about ¼ inch longer than halfthe anticipated movement. The stabilizer bars 16 a, 16 b can be adaptedso as to keep the upper and lower platforms 12,14 from separating fromthe specified height. The bars 16 a, 16 b can be detachable for addingor subtracting springs 18. There are many other ways known in the art toprovide the stabilizer function described above. The above describedexample is only intended to describe one simple stabilizer means 16.

The spring stand 10 further comprises an array of spaced-apart springs18 distributed between the upper and lower stand support platforms12,14. Corresponding opposing ends of each spring 18 is attached to theupper and lower stand support platforms 12,14. For example, five to ninesprings 18 may be located in a predetermined array designed todistribute a weight load of the person standing on the stand 10 and toabsorb an anticipated impact shock environment. The sizes of the springs18 are determined by the above criteria. For example, one inch or 1.25inch size coiled springs 18 may be suitable. Combinations of such sizesprings 18 may be suitable such as 1.25 springs near the corners of thestand 10 with the smaller spring sizes distributed in a more centeredpattern. Typical springs 18 have about 2.5 coils per inch. One exampleof attaching springs 18 is shown in FIG. 4 where a washer/nutcombination at each end of the springs is used to bolt the spring 18 tothe respective platforms 12,14.

As further depicted in FIG. 4, one method of providing the upper andlower platforms 12,14 is to provide for respective structural supportmembers 12 a,14 a, over which a more decorative overlayer 12 b,14 bcovers each respective structural support members 12 a,14 a. Members 12a,14 a could be made from a variety of suitable materials such as heavyduty composite polymer materials or pressure treated wood or any othermaterial suitable for the anticipated shock impacts and the environment.The overlayers 12 b,14 b could be made from materials such as fiberglassreinforced material to blend in with the boat hull and deck.

The spring stand 10 further includes means 20 for cushioning a weight ofa person standing on the spring stand 10. Such cushioning means 20 islocated on an upper surface of the upper platform 12. A non-slip cushionsurface 20 a is provided in an overlying attached relationship to theupper platform 12. This non-slip cushion surface 20 a is preferably madefrom an anti-skid/anti-slip material, such as a foam base material, arubber base material or combinations thereof. The cushioned surfacematerial 20 a can be applied directly to a molded and/or integrated topsurface of the upper platform 12. If the top platform 12 is manufacturedsuch that the upper surface of overlayer member 12 b is a compositemolded or formed shell, a part of the upper surface of member 12 b canbe formed or configured with an indented area or area surrounded by aperimeter ridge (not shown) to accept a foam or otheranti-skid/anti-slip pad 20 a.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention includes means 22 forminimizing a sliding and slippage of the spring stand 10 on a surface ordeck 26 on which the spring stand is to be used. One preferred method isto provide three or more (five shown in FIG. 4) spaced-apart footers 22a underlying the lower stand platform 14 with each footer 22 aconfigured to rest on the surface, such as the deck surface of a boat,on which the spring stand 10 is to be used. Each footer 22 a ispreferably made of a non-sliding/non-slip material such as a foam basematerial, a rubber base material or a silicone/elastomer base material,or any combinations of these materials.

In a preferred embodiment, the lower stand support platform 14 furthercomprises vertically upright sides 14 c around a perimeter of the lowerstand support 14 and the upper platform 12 further comprises verticallydepending sides 12 c around a perimeter of the upper platform 12. Thevertically depending sides 12 c are in a partially overlappingrelationship with the vertically upright sides 14 c. When used on a deck26 of a boat, making the shells of the upper platform 12 and the bottomplatform 14 from a fiberglass composite material will enable the springstand 10 to aesthetically blend in with the boat deck. Sides 12 c,14 ccan be made from a bendable plastic or fiberglass composite material orother similar materials described below. The height of the sides ispreferably about ¼ inch longer than half the anticipated up and downmovement of the spring stand 10.

There is a possibility that water splashing onto the boat deck may inturn splash in between the two platforms 12,14 of the spring stand 10with its vertical sides 12 c,14 c. Accordingly, it is preferred that thebottom platform 14 have one or more drain holes 24 for facilitating thedrainage of water away from tile spring stand 10 back onto the deck ofthe boat. For example, the footers 22 a can be three to four 1 inchanti-skid rubber strips that have a sufficient height to allow water toescape from under the platform 14. The strips or footers 22 a can beattached using silicone, hook and loop type of fasteners or configuredto use toggle bolts or similar threaded fasteners. Of course, the bottomof the spring stand 10 could also be integrally formed with the deckportion of the boat or other application.

Typical footprint size of the spring stand 10 can vary depending on theenvironment and the available footprint on the deck of the boat.However, it is anticipated that such area footprints can range from anoverall area size of about 12 to 18 inches by 18 to 30 inches.

As alluded above, the tipper and lower stand support platforms 12,14,along with their respective vertical sides 12 c,14 c can be made from avariety of materials known in the art, including wood material, a metalmaterial, a plastic base material, a polymeric composite material, afiberglass composite material or any combination thereof.

It should be understood that the preceding is merely a detaileddescription of one or more embodiments of this invention and thatnumerous changes to the disclosed embodiments can be made in accordancewith the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention. The preceding description, therefore, is not meant tolimit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention isto be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A spring stand for minimizing impact shock to the back and lower bodyextremities of a person standing on a surface exposed to vibrationand/or intermittent impact forces, the spring stand comprising: an upperplatform and a spaced-apart lower stand support platform in anunderlying relationship to said upper platform; stabilizer means forminimizing any forward, sideway and backward motion of said springstand, said stabilizer means being in mechanical communication with saidupper platform and said lower stand support platform; an array ofspaced-apart springs distributed between said upper and lower standsupport platforms, corresponding opposing ends of each spring beingattached to said upper and lower stand support platforms; and means forcushioning a weight of a person standing on said spring stand, saidcushioning means being located on an upper surface of said upperplatform.
 2. The spring stand according to claim 1, further comprisingmeans for minimizing a sliding and slippage of said spring stand on asurface on which said spring stand is to be used.
 3. The spring standaccording to claim 1, wherein said stabilizer means for minimizing anyforward, sideway and backward motion of said spring stand comprises twovertical stabilizer members, each in mechanical communication with saidupper platform and said lower stand support platform and each locatednear respective side edges of said upper and stand support platforms. 4.The spring stand according to claim 1, wherein said means for cushioninga weight of a person standing on said spring stand comprises a non-slipcushion surface in an overlying attached relationship to said upperplatform.
 5. The spring stand according to claim 4, wherein saidnon-slip cushioned surface is made from a foam base material, a rubberbase material or combinations thereof.
 6. The spring stand according toclaim 2, wherein said means for minimizing said sliding and slippage ofsaid spring stand on said surface on which said spring stand is to beused comprises three or more spaced-apart footers underlying said lowerstand platform, each footer configured to rest on said surface on whichsaid spring stand is to be used and each footer being made of anon-sliding/non-slip material.
 7. The spring stand according to claim 6,wherein said footer non-sliding/non-slip material is made from a foambase material, a rubber base material, a silicone/elastomer basematerial or any combinations thereof.
 8. The spring stand according toclaim 1, wherein said lower stand support platform further comprisesvertically upright sides around a perimeter of said lower stand supportand said upper platform further comprises vertically depending sidesaround a perimeter of said upper platform, said vertically dependingsides being in a partially overlapping relationship with said verticallyupright sides.
 9. The spring stand according to claim 8, wherein saidlower stand support platform further comprises one or more drain holesfor facilitating a drainage of water that might splash between saidupper and lower stand support platforms.
 10. The spring stand accordingto claim 9, wherein said spring stand has an overall area size of about12 to 18 inches by 18 to 30 inches.
 11. The spring stand according toclaim 1, wherein said upper and lower stand support platforms are madefrom a wood material, a metal material, a plastic base material, apolymeric composite material, a fiberglass composite material or anycombination thereof.